Abstract
In the actual climate change scenario, in situ conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture can significantly contribute broadening the diversity of our food system as well as increasing its resilience; nevertheless, landrace cultivation has been dramatically reduced in the last decades all over Europe. One of the most effective approaches to counteract the loss of landrace diversity in situ is facilitating its use. Aims of this study were to (i) describe how in situ maintenance of landraces occurs in different agro-environmental conditions in Europe and (ii) identify the main factors influencing landrace added values and accessibility as means to increase their adoption by new farmers. To the purpose, a collection of 95 case studies of both garden and open field landraces maintained in situ was analysed. A first description was obtained by classifying the information into 18 purposely defined categories. Data on landraces added values and accessibility were further transformed into weighted variables; the derived quantitative scores were then used as dependent variables in univariate and multivariate analyses. Results showed that farmers alone are still the main actors maintaining landraces in situ across different European biogeographical regions, mainly carrying out their activity under organic or low-input conditions, often in marginal areas. Results of the multivariate analysis showed that (i) type of actor involved in the multiplication, (ii) the main use of the product and (iii) presence of promotion actions significantly affect garden landraces added value and accessibility; presence of promotion actions was the only factor affecting added value of open field entries. Evidence arising from this work can contribute to the establishment of a fruitful ground of discussion for future European policies and strategies to protect and increase landrace use.
Highlights
Future food supplies depend on few major crops that are exposed to increasingly extreme and uncertain impacts of climate change (Nelson et al 2009); in this scenario, we are facing an exceptionally high rate of biodiversity loss (FAO 2019)
A recent approach—formalised into the Concept for on-farm conservation and management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) by the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR 2017)—rather than giving additional and/or broader definition to the term landrace itself, focused on different materials that are maintained in situ: (i) true landraces; (ii) introduced landraces
Entries belong to 46 different crop species classified as garden and open field; the most represented crops are: Solanum lycopersicum, Phaseolus vulgaris and Secale cereale; 8 cereal entries belonging to the Triticum genus are present (Table 3)
Summary
Future food supplies depend on few major crops that are exposed to increasingly extreme and uncertain impacts of climate change (Nelson et al 2009); in this scenario, we are facing an exceptionally high rate of biodiversity loss (FAO 2019). Agrobiodiversity—a subset of biodiversity that includes plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA)—generally refers to the level of richness with regard to the number of species together with among- and within-species diversity, in a defined area. A portion of agrobiodiversity is still managed and maintained in complex agroecosystems worldwide (van de Wouw et al 2010), but progressively lost. Such loss is recognised as one of the major threats that agriculture faces as consequence of climate change (Lobell et al 2008; FAO 2019)
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